Jeff Arellano's Commentary

Posted December 13, 2005 (user submitted)

Built in the 1960's as direct competition to The Quad at Whittier, this mall
originally opened with three anchors, JCPenney on the East end, The Broadway on
the west end, and a Boston Store in the center. A Sav-On Drugs was located in
the mall next to JCPenney

This mall originally was open air and was an inital success. Sometime around
the late 70's, early 80's, the mall was enclosed and remodeled inside to dark
browns and brick work. This will be the only interior remodel to the mall.

The mall in the early 80s added a 4th department store (Mervyns) in the back
near The Broadway. It also added a small food court across from the Sav-On Drug
store and next to JCPenney. This mall was already on a downhill struggle.

Boston Stores closed for good in the early 90s and nothing ever replaced it.
This will be the first blow to the mall.

The mall remodeled the exterior in the late 80's as it was trying to lure shops
from the Quad, which had just closed down. Krikorian Theatres built a 10 screen
Premium movie theatre on the back lot. This was sold a few years later to Regal
Cinemas, who closed the theatre by the mid 90's.

In 1996, The Broadway, was bought out by Federated. They decided not to
convert this store to a Macy's, and it was closed and immediately sold to
Sears. Sears moved in by 1998 and the mall was on a rebound, or so it seemed.

The department stores continued to thrive, but the mall continued to decline.
Failed attempts to lure a bookstore (it opened, then closed ) and an Old Navy
(it opened, then moved to the redeveloped Quad) suffered, and the dark wood and
brick inside was uninviting.

Stores on the inside of the mall contined to fail.

Finally in 2004, the mall closed for good. However, the Department Stores
remained open. Sears was bustling. Mervyns busier than ever. JCPenney was
strong, and the only shop open left in the mall was Sav-On Drugs.

Not long after closing, the entire mall minus the department stores was torn
down. Sav-On moved to a new location on the same property.

The mall was replaced by big box retailers. Today, JCPenney, Sears, and Mervyns
continue to thrive along with a new Target, Cost Plus and Petco. The site has
been renamed Whitwood Town Center, and new condos are being built where the
theatre once stood. If you stand in the parking lot, you can imagine where the
mall once stood, as the mall enterances from all three department stores are
now entrances to the free standing stores.

Steve Carras' Commentary

Posted December 5, 2006 (user submitted)

The mall was built in 1955-58 and the oldest store was the (circa 1961) Broadway now Sears (Broadway seemed to have sold their business to no less than THREE companies; Bloomingdales, Macy's, and here, and a few places elsewhere, Sears!).
The Regal was closed in 2001.

Deadmalls.com makes no guarantee of the completeness or accuracy of any
information provided herein. You, the reader, assume the risk of verifying
any materials used or relied on. Deadmalls.com is not liable for and does
not necessarily endorse viewpoints expressed by the authors of
content presented.
Information is presented as a historical account and may not reflect
present-day status.
All submissions become property of
DeadMalls.com and are posted at will.
By using DeadMalls.com in any manner you understand and agree with
these policies.